Samantha Taylor has admitted using the phrase during a break at an Attleborough Town Council meeting but has refused to say who it was aimed at.

The council has been nicknamed 'Battleborough' and 'Aggroborough' in recent years because of a string of explosive arguments, fallings-out and even prosecutions of its members.

Samantha Taylor (left) is the chair of Breckland Council (Image: Breckland Council)

Although it is ostensibly non-political, the council is comprised of opposing factions which reflect tensions between the Conservatives and Reform.

One faction, known as the Taylors, includes Mrs Taylor and a number of her friends and family who are also Tory councillors. It is a loose coalition but has a majority at most meetings.

The other is made up of people critical of the group who have been elected more recently - the Newbies. This faction mostly represent Reform.

Daniel Burcham, a Newbie and long-standing critic of the Taylors, overheard Mrs Taylor use the phrase 'vexatious little rat' while talking to two other Tories at a break in a meeting last week and believes it was to describe him.

Daniel Burcham, Attleborough councillor (Image: Attleborough Town Council)

He said: "Whether the meeting was being conducted or not, she said it in a professional capacity in a professional setting. None of us are outspoken or rude.

"Yes, we debate, we scrutinise, and we challenge, but we do have dignity and respect. We don't get personal with each other.

"She's got a reputation for being downright rude and disrespectful to not only residents, but other councillors."

But Mrs Taylor - who admitted calling a member of the public "short and fat" at a meeting last year - accused Mr Burcham of "earwigging" and refused to clarify who the insult was aimed at.

“It was a private conversation between myself and a colleague," she said.

"It wasn't in a meeting, it wasn't in an official setting. There is no requirement for councillors to be friends.

Mrs Taylor - who is also Conservative chairwoman of Breckland Council - said: “I'm human, and who says that I'm not acting like it? I didn't shout it, I didn't scream it, I was talking to a colleague about somebody in the room. 

Samantha was speaking to her daughter, Taila Taylor, when the "rat" remark was made (Image: Mid Norfolk Conservatives)

“If councillor Burcham felt that that comment was about him, then he was being rude, because he was earwigging on a private conversation, which is rude in itself.

“If he felt that that comment was about him, I think that says more about his conduct through the meeting than it does mine.”

As well as the political dimension between Reform and Tories, the latest clash also has its roots in a wider business dispute between Mr Burcham and the Taylor family.

For two months last year, he ran the town's Bear pub, which is owned by the Taylors, before the family ended the arrangement.

The Taylors, who also own the London Tavern pub on the high street, said this was because he had not met lease conditions.

He has since taken over another local Attleborough pub, the Griffin, but his departure from the Bear prompted heated debate in the town over the affair, especially online.

The Griffin pub in Attleborough (Image: Denise Bradley)

It also led to tensions on the council itself, but is only one of the issues that has led to the authority receiving the 'Battleborough' nickname.

Later that year, Stephen Fraser, another councillor who has ties to the Taylors, pleaded guilty to a late night drunken incident where he smashed a shop window by throwing stones at it.

He remains on the council, despite repeated calls for him to stand down.

Stephen Fraser plead guilty to vandalising a shop of a local last year (Image: Stephen Fraser/Facebook)

Mrs Taylor's daughter, Taila Taylor - another Attleborough councillor, the town's deputy mayor and also a member of Breckland Council - was at the scene of the incident and faced questions over why she did not report it. She said she had not witnessed any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, another Attleborough councillor, Dominic De Souza, is awaiting trial on stalking and assault charges. 

Mr De Souza was charged last year, and will face trial on both counts at Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court in April.

Turmoil involving councillors and former councillors in Attleborough is nothing new.

In 2022, Tony Crouch, who served as town mayor from 2019 to 2020, was shot twice with an air weapon in the space of six months.

 In between the shootings, Mr Crouch - who is no longer a councillor - received threatening letters saying “we can get you anytime we want” and "hope your funeral is sorted you will need it soon".

The year before, he had stormed out of a heated council meeting when police were called amid a public protest.

Recent conflicts on the authority have become so serious that last year it agreed to use its budget to fund therapy sessions for members.

The ongoing acrimony has angered many locals, with meetings often attended by dozens of locals, who have staged protests and branded signs calling for the Taylors to step down.

Last year there were eight formal complaints made to Breckland Council’s monitoring officer about councillor conduct in Attleborough. However, none were upheld.

Protestors outside Attleborough town hall in May (Image: Henry Durand)

The latest row has prompted Ms Taylor's own leader at Breckland, Sam Chapman-Allen, to weigh in.

"Whether describing someone as a 'little rat' is appropriate is ultimately for others to judge - it's not language I would ever use," he said. 

"Language is powerful and emotive. As civic leaders, we must set the standard we expect others to follow.

Breckland leader, Sam Chapman-Allen (Image: Breckland Council)

"Anyone in a civic or community leadership role has a responsibility to uphold the standards we expect in our communities. 

“I fully acknowledge that emotions can run high, but we have to take the heat out of the system and focus on the issues facing residents and businesses.

"I would urge everyone across Breckland, and particularly in Attleborough, to lower the temperature and focus on the challenges they're trying to resolve."

George Freeman with the council last year (Image: Facebook)

Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman - who has campaigned with the Taylors - also chimed in on Attleborough last month, urging for “constructive and positive” dialogue amid the council’s ongoing clashes.

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